Media Discourse and Ecolinguistics: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Pakistani Newspapers Stories

Abstract

Ecolinguistics examines how language engages the ecosystem that constitutes human life. It incorporates language within the larger framework and analyses the manner in which the human language behavior influences environmental sustainability. The investigation of environmental subjects in Dawn and Express Tribune newspapers is analyzed through Stibb’s Ecolinguistics model (2015). This study looks at how environmental words and perspectives influence the newspaper stories by examining through the eight dimensions of the model. The newspaper stories of Dawn and Express Tribune are taken as 60 of each and consequently 120 from both newspapers. Antconc software is used to conduct the frequencies of environmental set of words from the corpus of each newspaper stories. The result showed that Dawn corpus contained 216 words, whereas the Tribune corpus contained 134 environmental words, which is more than the Express Tribune corpus. With regard to the degradation of the environment, Dawn's readers may view it as an emotionally charged newspaper that heavily references the "war" and "disaster." The Express Tribune, on the other hand, uses resource-based and economic analysis more often and portrays environmental challenges in ways that align with the sustainable development paradigm, which holds institutions and citizens responsible for the future. Therefore, the current study outlines how ecolinguistics is applied in media and identifies the differences in semantics, framing, and ideology that are relevant to the public's concerns. As a result, Dawn and The Express Tribune are essential in advancing environmental awareness and dialogue while advocating for a wide range of strategies to carry out a successful ecological agenda. Both are promoted by this research.